Family Motto: Spero meliora. (Loosely translated as, "I hope for better things")
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Friday, 15 October 2010

They really can’t stop with their hectoring. Not content with their assault on the smoker with the crap pedalled about 2nd hand smoke damaging innocent bystanders. Now Ash America is trying to re-instate the myth of “third hand smoke”.

Parents who do not smoke in the presence of their children, including even those who smoke only outdoors, nevertheless put their children at serious risk of "massive damage" to both skin and nerve cells, according to a new study, notes ASH.

Now I’ve got three grown up kids and I haven’t seen people in the streets running and screaming away from them due to the hideous disfigurement I have inflicted on the Cheeeeldren.

What is it with these new puritans?

Using radioactive (Note 1) nicotine as a marker, German scientists showed that the neurotoxin nicotine is not only released from a parent's clothing by perspiration so that it can be detected in all the layers of a babies' skin, but that it is also transported through the child's skin into deeper tissue layers. They also demonstrated that the toxins from the smoke that were dissolved in the perspiration caused massive damage to children's skin cells -- this included changes in shape and even death to some cells. Also, nerve cells -- which are particularly active and developing in young children -- demonstrated major changes, and were no longer able to connect properly with one another.

I’m certainly not going to emigrate to the good old U S of A. They’re more draconian than the UK.

Already, judges is most of the states have issued orders prohibiting smoking around children involved in custody disputes, about a dozen states have banned smoking in cars or homes when foster children are present, and a small but growing number of states ban smoking in cars -- all to protect the health of children put at risk by secondhand tobacco smoke. Now all of these protections may have to be expended to include the risks caused by thirdhand tobacco smoke as well as secondhand tobacco smoke, suggests Banzhaf, whose legal actions have been in the forefront of the movement to protect children from the risks of their parents' smoking.

I wonder when the coagulation will get around to it over here.

H/T to Grandad. Or not, as my blood pressure has just shot up. Oh well. A large whisky and a cigarette should fix that.

Note 1. Are they sure they didn’t irradiate the kids with a lethal dose of pollonium?

Public toilets are of course part and parcel of everyday life. It is useful, however, to know exactly what it is you are looking for in any given country.

In some cases it is easy - for example, most English speaking countries refer to the toilet as a toilet. There is of course the notable exception of America, where it may be referred to as "the bathroom", "the restroom" or in some cases by its name, John1.

In France, do not ask for le cabinet de toilette as you are likely to be shown to the airing cupboard - it is better to ask for les toilettes in polite company, and if you are really desperate le pissoir. At least your hosts will know what you mean, even if they are embarrassed.

In England, you can ask for 'the bog' if you are in a pub, 'the little boy's room' or 'the girl's room' if you are in prudishly polite company, or 'the loo' - but 'where is the toilet?' will get you where you need to go (if you'll excuse the pun).

There is of course an etiquette to using a public toilet. Firstly you enter the convenience and glance around. If you see members of the opposite sex, it is likely that you are in the wrong place - pop outside and check the sign on the door. If you are relatively certain that you are in the correct place (and one can never be too sure) approach the proper area. Do not under any circumstances make eye contact with any other patron - no-one else wants to know that you are there.

Speech in men's toilets is only allowed if it is the comment variety. 'Ooooooh damn I needed that' and 'For this relief, much thanks' are acceptable. 'Who butchered a pig in here?' is not. In ladies' toilets discussion of make-up and boyfriends is mandatory, which is why ladies always travel to the toilet in pairs.

After relieving yourself, approach the basins and wash your hands - this is a ritual only, as the vast majority of people who use public toilets don't wash their hands, and when you push the door open you will inevitably load your hands with more germs than you washed off.

Before leaving the toilet, perform these simple checks:

If you are wearing trousers, ensure that your fly is fastened.

For anyone wearing a skirt, make sure it isn't tucked into your knickers.

Check that there is no toilet paper adhering to your shoes.

1 It is not known why all American toilets are named John - it can only be assumed that there was an overzealous, if somewhat unimaginative, plumber who applied the name in the first place.